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Venom Is Going To Be Bigger Than Its Critics Are Expecting

Critics seem to be writing Venomoff as a box office failure, but there's a lot of evidence that it could perform well. Fans and critics alike have been skeptical about Venom since it was first announced. The very idea of a Spider-Man spinoff universe bereft of Peter Parker just seems odd, which is why a lot of discussion has revolved around whether or not Tom Holland will make a cameo.

Meanwhile, the recent revelation that Venom will be PG-13 has generated a lot of complaints. This is a character who famously threatens to eat people's brains, but a PG-13 rating is generally viewed as the kiss of death to the bloody, violent concept many comic book readers had hoped for.

All these issues, and more, mean that fans and critics alike are dismissing Venom as a failure long before its release. Some are even comparing it to 2004's Catwoman, a film that grossed only $82 million in the global box office. However, these problems are overstated, and there's growing evidence that Venom will perform well. Let's take a look at what's really going on.

Some critics and fans may have written Venom off, but all this suggests that general moviegoers haven't done so. There's clearly a significant level of interest in Venom, and Sony's comic book-accurate recreation of the character has intrigued potential audiences. Now, it's important to note that this won't necessarily translate into a strong box office performance; researchers are still divided over whether or not it's possible to make those kind of predictions based on trailer views and social media chatter. Still, Venom's second trailer was a marked success, and the conversation is heading in just the direction Sony want. That does indeed position the film to have a good box office run.

Venom is Still Riffing on Spider-Man

Spider-Man is the most valuable comic book brand of them all. In 2014, THRreported that the wall-crawler's merchandise value was a whopping $1.3 billion, against just $325 million for the entire Avengers franchise. No doubt that figure has only increased over time. Spider-Man's popularity is global, too, as demonstrated by the fact Spider-Man: Homecominggrossed over $500 million overseas. Given the significance of the Spider-Man brand, it's no surprise Sony has been careful to stress Venom's connections to the franchise.

Take the question of whether or not Tom Holland will make a cameo. The studio is pointedly refusing to comment about this, allowing the debate to rage, well aware it means there's a conversation going on that links Spider-Man to Venom. That's probably the same reason we've had such conflicting statements as to whether or not Venom should be considered part of the wider MCU. Even Sony's decision to go for a PG-13 version of the film was spun as due to a hope for a future MCU crossover.

Cast a critical eye on the Venom trailer, and you'll realize that it subtly stressed the character's Spider-Man roots. Entire lines of dialogue were lifted straight from Spider-Man books. "Eyes, lungs, pancreas," Venom snarled at a helpless thug. "So many snacks, so little time." It didn't take comic book fans long to recognize that as a line from Amazing Spider-Man #374. In a recent interview with Fandango, director Ruben Fleischer stressed that this is a film with a lot of these Easter eggs. "I'm excited for fans of the comics to see the movie and try to spot them," he explained. "We literally lifted iconic frames from the Venom comic book and put them in the movie."